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Alex Kane, frequent contributor to the blog Mondoweiss, discusses his article “How Your Tax Dollars Fuel the Hatred of Muslims;” the Islamophobes “training” law enforcement agencies that Muslims are their enemies, Islam is a terrorist religion and Sharia law is coming to take over the US; the questionable involvement of local cops in fighting terrorism, which is essentially a foreign policy problem; Israel’s interest in perpetuating a negative view of Muslims and Arabs; and how the US government shows more allegiance to Israel than its own Muslim citizens – the consequence of a foreign policy that is unwaveringly supportive of Israel.

Alex Kane is a blogger and journalist for the Indypendent, a free New York City-based newspaper, and a frequent contributor to the blog Mondoweiss. His work has also appeared in Electronic Intifada, Alternet, Common Dreams, Palestine Chronicle, Red Pepper (UK), and Extra!

You people are imbeciles…are you too stupid to realize that you're doing an Islamophobe's job for them when you blame Israel and Jews for an increase of Islamophobia? Yeah….that would "work" in helping the Islamic religion retain its good name….when you guys are ruining it even more.

Actually, the Protestant fundies are the BIG constituency for war in the Middle East, Muslim-hatred, etc. Islam is competition for the fighting fundies (not that they differ much). War in the Middle East, involving a Jewish state, is supposed to usher in the Rapture, the Second Coming of Jesus, and the opportunity to rule humanity with a rod of iron, after the Resurrection. Prot Fundies out-number Jews in America by a huge margin, too.

Israel, like America, finds itself in a battle over religion. Fundamentalists in both countries want to tell everyone how to live their lives. There are many in Israel who want peace, and are willing to negotiate for it, to make concessions.

But there are Jewish fundamentalists who will kill their own leaders (Rabin) if they think it necessary. These folks do not want peace, or reconciliation, with the Palestinians. They are a menace to all on Earth, just like the Huckabees and Billy Graham juniors out there.

While "fundies" often gleefully grease the wheels of Empire, the ones who actually hold the reins of power piss on them quite regularly while the recipients call it rain. That is the sad dysfunctional relationship. Long ago I saw that from the inside, woke up from it all, and busted out. To say there are a lot of ignorant people out there is an understatement. Their world view is framed by their peers and it takes some real work to see things otherwise.

It's a big mistake to assume the people who rule a country arerational! In the case of the US, there are loads of irrationalassumptions which go right to the top! Dispensationalism is one ofthem, the “American Adam”, ie, the idea that the USA can do no wrong,is another.Our Fearless Leaders are just as dumb, just as bigoted, just associopathic or psychopathic as any one of the rest of us. The maindifference is, they have power to hurt vast numbers.Zhu Bajie